****WARNING - IMAGES MAY BE DISTURBING****
A note about our chickens - these are not the Cornish Cross hybrid monsters that most places raise for meat birds. Our birds are Buff Orpingtons, a heritage "dual purpose" breed of chicken. The birds we butchered today were 6 months old, compared to the Cornish Cross that are typically butchered at just 8 weeks. Our birds have also been allowed to free range their whole lives, eating bugs, weeds, and whatever other goodies they find out in the pastures. They are healthy and able to engage in normal chicken behaviors, unlike the Cornish Cross that are riddled with so many heath problems that many die of heart attacks at the ripe old age of 6 weeks. I am thrilled to support Linda's dedication to raising heritage breed animals, and am really excited to try these birds - I think the flavor will be extraordinary!
Okay, on to the process! We did the girls first because they were smaller. Angelo and Linda tied them up by their feet, and hung them upside down over the stand we were using. Linda dislocated their necks by giving a quick tug, which either renders them unconscious or paralyzes them so they don't feel the next step (I can't remember which it is).
The next step of course is being bleeding them out. This is accomplished by cutting the throat, and gravity takes care of the rest. The birds did a bit of flapping and blinking at this point, which would have been more disturbing had I not known that it was just reflexes. These birds were lucky - they were humanly handled up to and through their death.
After the bird was done bleeding out (usually just a few minutes) it was off for a quick dunk in boiling water to loosed the feathers. This part was STINKY! The chickens went from smelling like nothing, to smelling like slightly burned wet dog. Bleh.
Luckily the smell didn't last long because it was on to plucking! We plucked by hand, which seemed to go pretty fast and wasn't too hard. I was surprised at the amount of tiny cat like hairs that are left on the bird after you get out all the feathers. I don't have a picture of plucking because it was all hands on deck, and we got pretty feathery.
The next step was evisceration, the removal of the internal organs. Angelo did both the girls while I watched and asked a lot of questions. He was so patient explaining everything to me - he is a really good teacher. We were in for a surprise when we cut the first chicken open. These girls had just started laying eggs, so we got an up close look at how the eggs form inside, which was fascinating. This is the first girl we did, you can see the 4 yolks formed inside:
When we took them out it was really crazy to see the clump because you can see where the other eggs would have begun forming:
(that's a kidney next to the yolks)
But the next bird was shocking - she had soft shelled eggs inside, and not just 3 or 4....I counted at least 14 as we were cleaning her out! Seems like it would be uncomfortable...she definitely would have been a great layer!
Next up were the boys, and I felt ready to be a little more hands on. I had dislocated one of the girls necks, and it had gone smoothly. I decided to do it again with one of the boys, and it went good as well. Its kind of tricky, I don't have a feel for it yet, and cant really tell when I have got it. Linda and Angelo could hear it pop though, and I could feel the chicken go limp. It was two tugs at most, so pretty quick for the little guy.
I cut his throat to bleed him out next. This was the second throat I did, but I haven't gotten a feel for that either so I didn't go deep enough either time. That was frustrating, because I wanted to get it right, but that's how you learn. The birds were not in any distress, so at least I know they didn't suffer at the hands of my clumsiness!
Then I held him while he bled out. Its common for the birds to flap and move around after death, its all reflexes and not the bird actually struggling. Since these were bigger boys, we held them until they were limp:
With Angelo's help, I did the evisceration on one of the boys, and I felt like that went pretty smoothly. Its a lot more time consuming that I would have thought, you have to be careful how you cut around the anus, and careful not to puncture any of the internal organs. I thought I did good job for a first timer, and again Angelo was really helpful and patient.
Thats it! After the chickens were washed and cleaned up, they were bagged and stuck in the fridge. The whole process took just a couple of hours, and I am hopeful that I was more of a help than a hindrance so they will let me join them again!
I know that some people reading this may not understand why I would want to be a participant in this. A few years ago I may have wondered the same thing, but at this point in my life its becoming more and more important to me where my food comes from, and how it gets to me. I want to be intimately involved in the process, to know not only my farmer, but also the animals that are giving their lives to feed my family. This was my chance to do that. Butchering a chicken for dinner used to be commonplace in our country, and I find it depressing that its now thought of something "eccentric" or "weird". Its part of our history, and part of our culture, and I want to honor that. I want to have the skills to provide for my family no matter what the situation, because there may just come a day when a trip to the grocery store for that saran wrapped tray of boneless, skinless chicken breast may not be possible. And what on earth are we going to do then? I know that my family will still be able to put a chicken dinner on the table. And that's a pretty good feeling!
Last fall when I ordered chickens from my friend Linda, I mentioned that I would be interested in helping when butchering time came around. She knows how excited I get about all things pertaining to farming and self sufficiency. She very kindly said that I could help her and her husband do our small batch of chickens. Six months later and today was the day! To be honest, I was really nervous because I have never taken an animals life before, and I wasn't quite sure how I would feel or react to it. I can honestly say it was so much better/easier than I thought it was going to be. Part of that is because I don't feel any guilt - these chickens have had wonderful lives - they have felt the sun and the wind on their feathers, they have had the freedom to scratch in the grass all day and eat bugs, they have known love and have had companionship. You really cant ask for much more, especially compared to how 98% of America's chickens are raised (we will get to that in another post). But the biggest factor was Linda and Angelo. They were so willing to embrace my desire to learn, they let me get in there and help with everything, and were so kind and patient that it made the whole experience something that I felt really good about. I didn't walk away from it feeling sad or depressed like I worried that I may. I walked away feeling lighthearted and thankful, and grateful to have wonderful friends who are very generous with their time!
When I got to their place, the chickens were all ready there and ready. The boys shared a huge crate together, and the girls were in a smaller kennel. The boys were really entertaining with their crowing!
When I got to their place, the chickens were all ready there and ready. The boys shared a huge crate together, and the girls were in a smaller kennel. The boys were really entertaining with their crowing!
A note about our chickens - these are not the Cornish Cross hybrid monsters that most places raise for meat birds. Our birds are Buff Orpingtons, a heritage "dual purpose" breed of chicken. The birds we butchered today were 6 months old, compared to the Cornish Cross that are typically butchered at just 8 weeks. Our birds have also been allowed to free range their whole lives, eating bugs, weeds, and whatever other goodies they find out in the pastures. They are healthy and able to engage in normal chicken behaviors, unlike the Cornish Cross that are riddled with so many heath problems that many die of heart attacks at the ripe old age of 6 weeks. I am thrilled to support Linda's dedication to raising heritage breed animals, and am really excited to try these birds - I think the flavor will be extraordinary!
Okay, on to the process! We did the girls first because they were smaller. Angelo and Linda tied them up by their feet, and hung them upside down over the stand we were using. Linda dislocated their necks by giving a quick tug, which either renders them unconscious or paralyzes them so they don't feel the next step (I can't remember which it is).
The next step of course is being bleeding them out. This is accomplished by cutting the throat, and gravity takes care of the rest. The birds did a bit of flapping and blinking at this point, which would have been more disturbing had I not known that it was just reflexes. These birds were lucky - they were humanly handled up to and through their death.
After the bird was done bleeding out (usually just a few minutes) it was off for a quick dunk in boiling water to loosed the feathers. This part was STINKY! The chickens went from smelling like nothing, to smelling like slightly burned wet dog. Bleh.
Luckily the smell didn't last long because it was on to plucking! We plucked by hand, which seemed to go pretty fast and wasn't too hard. I was surprised at the amount of tiny cat like hairs that are left on the bird after you get out all the feathers. I don't have a picture of plucking because it was all hands on deck, and we got pretty feathery.
The next step was evisceration, the removal of the internal organs. Angelo did both the girls while I watched and asked a lot of questions. He was so patient explaining everything to me - he is a really good teacher. We were in for a surprise when we cut the first chicken open. These girls had just started laying eggs, so we got an up close look at how the eggs form inside, which was fascinating. This is the first girl we did, you can see the 4 yolks formed inside:
When we took them out it was really crazy to see the clump because you can see where the other eggs would have begun forming:
(that's a kidney next to the yolks)
But the next bird was shocking - she had soft shelled eggs inside, and not just 3 or 4....I counted at least 14 as we were cleaning her out! Seems like it would be uncomfortable...she definitely would have been a great layer!
Next up were the boys, and I felt ready to be a little more hands on. I had dislocated one of the girls necks, and it had gone smoothly. I decided to do it again with one of the boys, and it went good as well. Its kind of tricky, I don't have a feel for it yet, and cant really tell when I have got it. Linda and Angelo could hear it pop though, and I could feel the chicken go limp. It was two tugs at most, so pretty quick for the little guy.
I cut his throat to bleed him out next. This was the second throat I did, but I haven't gotten a feel for that either so I didn't go deep enough either time. That was frustrating, because I wanted to get it right, but that's how you learn. The birds were not in any distress, so at least I know they didn't suffer at the hands of my clumsiness!
Then I held him while he bled out. Its common for the birds to flap and move around after death, its all reflexes and not the bird actually struggling. Since these were bigger boys, we held them until they were limp:
With Angelo's help, I did the evisceration on one of the boys, and I felt like that went pretty smoothly. Its a lot more time consuming that I would have thought, you have to be careful how you cut around the anus, and careful not to puncture any of the internal organs. I thought I did good job for a first timer, and again Angelo was really helpful and patient.
Thats it! After the chickens were washed and cleaned up, they were bagged and stuck in the fridge. The whole process took just a couple of hours, and I am hopeful that I was more of a help than a hindrance so they will let me join them again!
I know that some people reading this may not understand why I would want to be a participant in this. A few years ago I may have wondered the same thing, but at this point in my life its becoming more and more important to me where my food comes from, and how it gets to me. I want to be intimately involved in the process, to know not only my farmer, but also the animals that are giving their lives to feed my family. This was my chance to do that. Butchering a chicken for dinner used to be commonplace in our country, and I find it depressing that its now thought of something "eccentric" or "weird". Its part of our history, and part of our culture, and I want to honor that. I want to have the skills to provide for my family no matter what the situation, because there may just come a day when a trip to the grocery store for that saran wrapped tray of boneless, skinless chicken breast may not be possible. And what on earth are we going to do then? I know that my family will still be able to put a chicken dinner on the table. And that's a pretty good feeling!